China Hits Back with $50.5 Billion Lawsuit Against Missouri Over COVID-19 Claims

In an escalating legal battle that could have far-reaching implications for international law and diplomacy, China has filed a retaliatory lawsuit against the State of Missouri, seeking $50.5 billion in damages for economic and reputational harm. This move comes after Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway declared intentions to collect on a $24 billion judgment against China for its actions during the COVID-19 pandemic, as reported by Missouri's Attorney General's Office. The judgment, labeled as historic by Hanaway, was for unleashing and worsening the global health crisis.

China's suit claims that Missouri's actions negatively impacted the "soft power" of Wuhan and the "productivity and commercialization" of its scientific and technological achievements, specifically pointing to the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The defendants, including Governor Mike Kehoe, U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt, and former Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, now Co-Deputy Director of the FBI, are demanded to issue public apologies across major media outlets in both the United States, and China. “I find it extremely telling that the Chinese blame our great state for ‘belittling the social evaluation’ of The Wuhan Institute of Virology. This lawsuit is a stalling tactic and tells me that we have been on the right side of this issue all along,” said Attorney General Hanaway, underscoring that the state remains committed to collecting the judgment, as mentioned by Missouri's Attorney General's Office.

Missouri's initial lawsuit against China, rooted in the nation's role in the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, was filed back in 2020. It alleged that China's mishandling of the outbreak, and obstruction in the global supply of medical equipment, harmed Missourians. “I’ve been banned from Communist China, and now I am being sued and targeted by Communist China in a $50 Billion lawfare campaign, and I’ll wear it like a badge of honor. China’s sinister malfeasance during the COVID-19 pandemic led to over a million Americans losing their lives, economic turmoil that rocked our country for years, and an enormous amount of human suffering, and as Missouri Attorney General I filed suit to hold them accountable,” U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt told the Missouri Attorney General's Office. Schmitt has been an outspoken critic of China's response to the pandemic and stands by the measures taken to hold them accountable.

Upon diplomatic confirmation of the judgment-service packets, Missouri plans to proceed with seizing Chinese assets, although China has thus far declined to participate in U.S. court proceedings. The impending seizure could involve real property, financial interests, and other holdings connected to the defendants in the lawsuit. This peculiar international legal showdown continues to unfold, marking a significant and rare instance of a U.S. state engaging in direct legal confrontation with a foreign sovereign state. Both parties appear ready for a protracted battle, despite the absence of China in U.S. courtrooms to date.